Marcum wins fourth straight start for Blue Jays

Video

TORONTO(AP) -- Orioles manager Dave Trembley was as blunt as could
be when discussing Baltimore's defense in the first inning.

Aaron Hill and Vernon Wells hit solo home runs, Shaun Marcum
allowed six hits in six innings to win his fourth straight start
and the Toronto Blue Jays took advantage of a trio of poor plays
in the first that Trembley called "terrible" to beat the Orioles
5-0 Friday night.

Second baseman Scott Moore failed to charge a slow roller by
leadoff man Fred Lewis, who beat out a close play at first.
Moore then dropped a throw from catcher Matt Wieters as Lewis
stole second, and left fielder Corey Patterson threw to the
wrong base when Hill followed with an RBI single, allowing Hill
to take second.

Hill later scored on a two-out triple by Jose Bautista, who
scampered home for the third run when Miguel Tejada couldn't
handle Moore's errant relay throw.

"It certainly would have been a lot cleaner game and given us a
much better chance and given (starter Kevin) Millwood a much
better chance if we had played a better bottom of the first,"
Trembley said.

It was another tough outing for Millwood, who came in with the
lowest run support of any AL starter and got no help from either
his offense or his defense.

"It's just not right," Trembley said. "It's not right. What are
you going to say?"

Millwood (0-5) allowed five runs, four earned, and six hits in
six innings and is winless in 11 starts this season. He walked
two and struck out two.

"It's just frustrating that I didn't make pitches when I needed
to," Millwood said. "That's about all it is."

Wieters agreed that the Orioles had let Millwood down.

"We've got to help him out more," Wieters said. "He's been doing
great for us this year to battle the way he has and get through
as many innings as he's been able to get through."

Marcum (5-1) walked two and struck out seven to win his fifth
straight decision. All his wins have come following a Blue Jays
loss.

"Everybody wants to step up and pitch well and everyone wants to
do it that much more after a loss," Marcum said. "Somebody has
to get us back on a winning streak and on the right note. But
it's not only me, it's the guys that are swinging the bats and
playing defense behind us."

Shawn Camp worked the seventh, Casey Janssen pitched the eighth
and Kevin Gregg finished to give Toronto its fifth shutout. The
Blue Jays are 4-0 against Baltimore this season.

Hill went 3 for 33 on Toronto's recent eight-game road trip and
came in batting just .154. He turned it around after taking
extra batting practice before the game, going 2 for 4 with two
RBIs.

Hill hit an RBI single in the first and homered to left in the
sixth, his seventh. Five of Hill's last eight hits have been
home runs.

Both of Hill's hits came with two strikes.

"I told myself both times, 'Be ready for the fastball and as
long as your foot is down, you can adjust to the rest,"' Hill
said.

One out after Hill's homer, Wells drove one into the left field
bullpen, his 12th.

Marcum was at his best when threatened, getting three straight
outs after the Orioles opened the second with consecutive
singles, and escaping another first-and-second jam in the fourth
by getting Adam Jones to ground into a double play.

"That's who he is," Wieters said of Marcum. "He's a guy whose
going to get in some tough situations but he's never going to
give in to you. He's always going to make pitches. It's tough to
put a lot of hits together against him because he's a guy who's
going to hit corners, who's going to throw different pitches.
He's unpredictable."

Baltimore also had two runners thrown out on the bases. Ty
Wigginton was called out at second after appearing to beat
Wells' throw on a single to center in the first, and Nick
Markakis was throw out by Lewis trying to stretch a two-out
single into a double in the eighth.

Jones went 0 for 4, snapping his hitting streak at a career high
13 games.

NOTES: Baltimore optioned RHP Cla Meredith to Triple-A Norfolk
after the game, clearing a spot for RHP Chris Tillman, who is
expected to come up from Triple-A and start against Toronto on
Saturday. ... Lewis returned to the lineup after having fluid
drained from a bunion on his left foot. He had missed two games.
... Blue Jays manager Cito Gaston dropped 1B Lyle Overbay from
fifth to seventh in the order, and moved Bautista up to fifth.
... DH Luke Scott returned for the Orioles after missing three
games with a sore left shoulder. ... Roberto Alomar threw out
the first pitch.